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Autumn Wing and the Crown of Fire
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Page 9 by Joost Haakman

Jul23
by on 23 July, 2012 at 12:00 am
Posted In: Season 1 Hiatus: 2012

This week’s page is by an artist and author who by now, if you know anything at all about this comic, needs no introduction.  But he’s getting one anyway.  Ladies and gentlemen, the work of Joost Haakman is of course some of my favorite comic art in the world.  Quite literally, as a matter of fact, since he’s based in the Netherlands.  Joost wrote and illustrated the books Semmie the Forest Gnome and Hop, the latter in Dutch and the former in both English and Dutch.  As an artist and writer he is among the most versatile I know, and this page shows all the hallmarks of his style – the dynamic motion, the colors, the depth of field, the layout.  Joost and I have collaborated in the past, and this is also the THIRD (count it, THIRD) guest page he has drawn for me, so let me tell you, when you add it all up he’s probably the artist I owe the most to for his support, exchange of ideas, and all-around top effort in helping me keep this comic going.  And if I haven’t said it enough, I’ll say it again: his work is simply stunning, and is in print, so I recommend you all grab copies of it today if you haven’t already!

As for me, this was a very long and busy week, bearing the weight of the world on my shoulders as I do (ha-ha-ha).  A lot of important business at the proverbial “office,” meetings and so forth, all of which had nothing at all to do with comics, except insofar as I have bills to pay.  And I do love my professional work, as well.  If I ever get a license, it would be nice, but, well… suffice it to say that letters from the licensing authority protesting that even though I’m eight years in and counting, they still think it should be even harder for me to become a licensed architect, and that it’s all for my own good… well, it’s not confidence-producing.  It’s beginning to feel more and more like a flimflam game the closer I get to the end of it all, which is really depressing, because it leaves a sour feeling in my stomach over the whole internship mess in this country.  But that’s neither here nor there, I guess.

As always, though, comics are my solace (well, that, and the fact that I love my job enough to go through all this bullcrap anyway).  So you can always check out this week’s progress, such as it is:

For now, I have to sleep.  Another big week is coming up.  All the best, folks!

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Page 8 by James Francis

Jul16
by on 16 July, 2012 at 12:00 am
Posted In: Season 1 Hiatus: 2012

For those of you who don’t know or can’t tell, I have, for the past three years, been aspiring to match the graphic mastery shown by Jim Francis in his comic Outsider, and his style is one from which I freely admit that I draw my greatest inspiration.  I do not lie when I say that I envy his skills as a comic artist very deeply.  And as a matter of fact, it was Jim’s early advice and technical assistance that got 6-Commando off the ground, so it’s no exaggeration to say that this comic would probably not be were it not for his help and inspiration.  Needless to say, then, when he agreed to chip in a page for this guest comic, I was thrilled in a way that a grown man ought not to be.  And the result, has left me simply astonished.  He’s drawn the most convincing Howlers I’ve ever seen – and that includes my own!  If you want to see more of his superb work, jet on over to his website and read Outsider.  It’s one of the comics I vote Most In Need Of An Animated Series, and I oughtta know!

Nor have I been idle this week!  As has been the habit, you can jet over to vote for 6-Commando to see what the week’s page is – the finally and at-long-last completed opening spread for 6-Commando, Season 1.  In yet another coincidence, there are Howlers involved there, as well!  Funny the parallels, there.  This page took a HUGE effort, so please take a look!

And lastly, many of you know of my deep and abiding interest in games of all kinds, and I happened upon one that really sums up what I love most about them.  It’s easy to dismiss games as an idle waste of time, but this one is so artful, the figures such beautiful works of sculpture, the artwork so emotive, and the themes so heartbreaking and human in spite of there not being a human in them at all, that I simply had to draw your attention to it.  Games, like comics, can be serious works of art, and this is the proof.  The game is This Quar’s War, and depicts a World War I-like milieu on an alien world, being fought by a race called the Quar, who are short, stout, anteater-like creatures who have been at war with themselves for over seven hundred years.  It’s so carefully realized and so beautiful in its execution that I could hardly stand it, even just looking at it.  It’s fine art in games form.  I was amazed, and if you have any interest in those kinds of things, I think you will be, too.

So that’s it from me, for this week.  On to the next revision – work work work!

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Page 7 by James Hohenstein

Jul09
by on 9 July, 2012 at 12:00 am
Posted In: Season 1 Hiatus: 2012

This week’s amazing contribution is the work of James Hohenstein, the author and artist of the crime drama Stymie.  Noir-style stories using anthropomorphic characters have been tried in comics and animation before, but rarely with the kind of thorough understanding of actual film noir and its nuances that James brings to his work.  Now, granted, being a huge fan of film noir, I may be biased, but for my money Stymie is one of the most genuinely sophisticated dramas in the world of webcomics at the moment.  He has the ability to zero in on exactly the right mood and moment in his scenework and realize it in detail that seems so effortless while it’s simultaneously so beautifully constructed.  Stymie is a real hidden treasure, and I strongly recommend that you all check it out.

As for me, this week I had a little time off around Independence Day.  Unfortunately for the comic, but fortunately for me, this gave me some time to take care of some rather pressing tasks that I’ve been putting off, and also to find some time to visit friends and family I don’t get to see as often as I’d like.  I also tackled a set of pages that I’ve been really hesitating about – pages that, in point of fact, nobody has ever seen before, except me.  I was of half a mind not to show you the progress this week as a sales gimmick but then I thought what the hell, so you can go ahead and vote to see one of them up now.  The whole spread is going to take another few days I think, but still, it’s fun to know that even what you’ve already read can have some surprises left in it.

I also spent some time going through still more paperwork and associated nonsense for my architectural licensing.  If any of you are in licensed professions, you know just how irritating it is to try to work your way into a cartel that has a huge incentive to keep you out of it and throws up arbitrary barriers to your advancement.  If you aren’t in a licensed profession, and you want to know what this is like, this ought to give you a fairly good idea:

I’ve also been doing some site work to tighten up some loose ends in the code here, and also doing some thinking and planning about what the next step in the 6-Commando project is going to be.  I don’t want to get into this in enormous detail at the moment since I’d rather focus on the work at hand, but I am trying to think of how best to proceed at the end of the summer.  But more on that later.  For now, I’m off to bed, and all that.  Have a good week, folks!

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Page 6 by Jason Brubaker

Jul02
by on 2 July, 2012 at 12:00 am
Posted In: Season 1 Hiatus: 2012

Although I’ve never met Jason personally, he and I have been corresponding, and on occasion chatting over the internet, and I think I’ve gotten to know him pretty well.  So I think I speak from some experience when I say that I’ve never known him to do anything in half-measures.  This week’s page is no exception – Jason totally blew me away.  He’d warned me he was going to “run wild” with it, but holy cow, man!  Jason, if you don’t know, writes and draws the online graphic novel reMIND, winner of one of the last Xeric grants and now well enough known in the industry that I saw a copy of his book in the very shadow of the Empire State Building this past week.  I think the first printing of his book is now sold out, but keep your eyes open for a second printing – it’s a beautiful book from a really fantastic artist!

As for me, I’m back on track.  This weekend, you may have noticed we had a few hours of intermittent site blackouts, especially last night – that was me.  I was making some much needed upgrades and backups to the site’s architecture.  I hate HTML-fiddling, but my web host has a rather arcane method of backing up databases and such.  But it’s all done, the latest version of WordPress is installed, and we’re running at 100% once again.

I also did some drawing.  If you want to see it, I’ve put it over on topwebcomics.com for your viewing pleasure.  Oddly enough, this seems to be the week of God Guys Getting Beaten Up.  But oh, well.  Coincidence, I guess.

And this coming week is Independence Day in the United States, also known as “Th’ Fourth’a JuhLYE,” to those who for some reason don’t like to think too hard about the Revolution, when we celebrate the birth of the Republic.  It’s an oddly contentious time in this country, politically, but I do hope we will all still be able to have a good and relaxing holiday.

As for me, I’m off the bed.  All the best, folks!

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Page 5 by Aviv Itzcovitz

Jun25
by on 25 June, 2012 at 12:00 am
Posted In: Season 1 Hiatus: 2012

This week, we are graced with the artistic skills of Aviv Itzcovitz, who, in addition to being a masterful illustrator and comic artist, is also a painter and graphic designer, and draws the silent comic Stupid Snake.  He has, in fact, just released the second book in the saga.  I envy him very deeply – he’s one of those kind of artists who seems to me to just get everything completely right the first time.  I know it’s not REALLY that way, but that’s how his artwork always seems to me.  Anyhow, I can’t possibly recommend Stupid Snake highly enough – check it out, and consider buying it in print, as well!

As for me, this week saw me doing very little drawing, actually; at least, not any that I’m quite ready to show you – I had a slowdown in revision so I ended up turning instead to some preliminary blockouts for Chapter IV, which is going to be a really fun one to draw (and hopefully to read), but no peeking, so this week there’s no voting incentive.  To be perfectly honest, though, most of the week was absorbed in a long-overdue cleaning of my apartment and studio, which, let me tell you, had gotten shamefully grotty.  My poor cat is now patrolling all the corners she likes to sit it, stopping occasionally to give me angry looks when she finds that her nests of fluff have been cleared away.  She has a lot of catching up to do.  And I have to resolve not to let it get that bad again.

This week also culminated in my third successive disappointment from NYCC, which has yet again rejected my application for space in Artist’s Alley.  I won’t pretend I’m not disappointed, because I am.  It basically sucks.  But I’m used to not being taken seriously by The Establishment, and it doesn’t deter me or alter any of my plans.  Besides, the majority of my readers, if Google is anything to go by, are in the Western US, Europe and Canada these days, so NYCC, though a nice goal, hardly makes or breaks any of my plans or deadlines in re: my intended readership.  I was still bummed out, though, I gotta say, so I basically decided to give myself the weekend off, and with a few days’ perspective, a clean studio, and a visit from an old friend of mine, I’m just going back to the drawing board and picking up where I left off.  I’ll just keep on plugging away.

All the best, folks, and see you next week!

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